The World's 18 Strangest Shopping Malls

Architects tasked with building malls are faced with countless challenges: The mall needs to be spacious to account for dozens of stores, but not so big that the distances tire shoppers; the building needs to let in light and air, but not so much that it competes with display lighting; and customers should get a little lost, meandering from shop to shop, but exits need to be easy to find in an emergency. With all this in mind, it's no wonder there are so many unique mall designs out there. Here are the 18 strangest designs we found.

Iluma

Iluma

Where: Bugis, Singapore

Background: The iconic Iluma, located in the Bugis district of Singapore, opened in 2009 and ties together the area as an arts and entertainment district.

Why It's Unique: Retail architecture expert Chris Thomas of DLR Group explains, "When we talk of a mall we're basically talking of something that has an interior concourse lined with small shops, what we typically call inline retail. And it's anchored by department stores. The problem with malls, and what we're trying to break out of when we look at them new, is the fact that they had no exterior." In this way, Iluma breaks the mold. On one side of the building is a rectangular shape filled with an illuminated red coloring. On the other side, the Iluma boasts a curved facade, filled with a high-tech light and illumination display, which often has messages flashing across the building.

Il Vulcano Buono

Il Vulcano Buono

Background: Located in Nola, Italy, near Mount Vesuvius, Volcano Buono was designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano and opened in 2007. The mall has over 150 shops, as well as a hotel and a cinema.

Why It's Unique: Thomas explains that "architects are always trying to come up with organizations that will generally help move traffic along or create something interesting to intrigue the shopper to keep them moving." Piano's design of the mall's shape was based on the nearby Mt. Vesuvius, a still active volcano. The look was obtained by creating a set of sold circles, each with a different slope, which come together to form the volcano-like shape.